John Deering

Background Deering, who was raised in Chicago, Illinois, stated that he had a tumultuous childhood. Due to neglect, he was committed to a reformatory from the ages of thirteen to eighteen. Aspiring to join the military since his youth, Deering joined the United States Merchant Marine, but soon found himself incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison and Folsom State Prison, both in California. A .38-caliber shell casing was found nearby and matched bullets retrieved from Meredith's body and also from a carjacking on May 7 of Maurice L. Howe and his wife, Lucie. The couple from Ogden identified Deering as the assailant who had also robbed them of $11 that night in Salt Lake City. Investigators found a .38 Colt automatic pistol that had been sold for $3 around May 12 to a pawnbroker near the Palace Casino in Reno, Nevada. The firearm was traced to Deering and was matched to the bullets from the crime scenes through ballistic fingerprinting.

Arrest and confession

Aftermath On November 1, 1938, Doctor Besley discussed his observations of Deering with the press: "He put on a good front. The electrocardiograph film shows his bold demeanor hid the actual emotions pounding within him. He was scared to death." Deering's eyes, which he had willed for corneal transplantation, On November 8, a surgeon confirmed that tissue from Deering's corneas successfully restored sight to a 27-year-old blind man, whose name was withheld at the surgeon's request. Some of the corneal tissue was also implanted in the eyes of a four-year-old boy who had been blind since birth. Deering had previously offered the transplant to blind Utah County attorney Arnold C. Roylance, who was medically unable to accept the offer. Deering's body was donated to the medical department of the University of Utah, so that, in his own words, he could finally receive a "high class education".

On December 28, 1938, Deering's case was featured in a broadcast of the true crime radio show Gang Busters.